Helioculture: Making Biofuel from CO2 by Using Solar Power

California-based startup, Joule Biotechnologies is developing a unique process using solar energy that converts carbon dioxide into liquid biofuel. This new process could yield up to 20,000 gallons of usable fuel per year per acre of land for approximately the same cost as fossil fuels.

Dubbed Helioculture, the process is composed of carbon dioxide and a solar converter that captures sunlight, turning them into a liquid biofuel. This solar converter contains nutrients, an internal broth of gray water and genetically engineered organisms that use photosynthesis to secrete hydrocarbons that can be used as fuel.

Due to the Helioculture process, many of the traditional problems of solar power and biofuels are avoided. It doesn’t require agriculturally viable land to operate and also requires significantly less land than corn-based biofuels. The most important thing to know is that in comparison with solid solar cells, the resulting liquid fuel has a greater power density, being easily transported without any power degredation.

Joule Biotechnologies plans to build a pilot plant somewhere in the Southwestern United States. If all goes well, the company hopes to have commercial hydrocarbon fuel production in place by 2011 and commercial ethanol production in place by 2010. In the meantime, we don’t now more details about the Joule Biotechnologies process. The specific organism used to secrete the hydrocarbons has not been divulged yet.

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http://www.green.com Nikki Hilton

I was on here with my sisiter looking up pink helocopters and we ran into thie phony website. I mean you should really have pink Heliocopters just in case a heiress like mwa come on this website. you made my sister read for like a minute, thats a long time for paris

Jackal

If the organism is capable of growing on brackish water and it produces large amounts of ethanol from sunlight and CO2, what if it escaped into estuaries and coastal waters?

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About Benji Jerew

Ben Jerew (AKA LoneWolffe) is a father, husband, freelance writer, and Upstate New York native doing volunteer work in the highlands of Peru. The LoneWolffe also loves taking pictures of nature. Ben has been a Master Automobile Technician for over ten years, certified by ASE, Toyota, and Lexus, and specializing in electronic systems and hybrid technology. Branching out now, as a Freelance Writer, he specializes in research and writing about his main area of interest, Automotive Technology, Alternative Fuels, and Concept Vehicles. Check out his website at JerewIndependentResearch.com